Proceedings of the Language Technologies for All (LT4All) , pages 95–96 Paris, UNESCO Headquarters, 5-6 December, 2019. c 2019 European Language Resources Association (ELRA), licenced under CC-BY-NC

Red T Translator/Interpreter Incident Database

Maya Hess, Naomi Robbins Red T 477 West 22 Street, New York, NY 10011 [email protected], [email protected]

Abstract

Translators and interpreters (T/Is) in conflict zones and other high-risk settings are targeted by state and non-state actors alike. To mitigate this critical state of affairs, relevant policies must be implemented or improved. However, to drive meaningful policy change for the more vulnerable members of this largely invisible profession, accurate figures are needed. That is why Red T, a nonprofit organization advocating for the protection of T/Is at risk, is calling on governmental, intergovernmental and academic bodies to contribute data to the first database cataloguing incidents of T/I persecution, prosecution, imprisonment, abduction, torture and assassination.

Keywords: Translator, Interpreter, Database, Conflict Zone, Terrorism

Résumé

Les traducteurs et interprètes se trouvant dans des zones de conflit et autres environnements à hauts risques deviennent des cibles pour les acteurs étatiques et non étatiques. Pour atténuer cet état des choses critique, des politiques pertinentes doivent être mises en œuvre ou améliorées. Cependant, pour appuyer des changements constructifs en matière de politiques pour les membres plus vulnérables de ces professions largement invisibles, des chiffres précis sont nécessaires. C’est pour cette raison que Red T, une organisation à but non lucratif défendant la protection des traducteurs et interprètes à risque, invite les organes gouvernementaux, intergouvernementaux et académiques à contribuer leurs données à la première base de données cataloguant les incidents de persécution, poursuites judiciaires, emprisonnement, enlèvement, torture et assassinat à l’encontre de traducteurs et interprètes.

Mots-clés : traducteur, interprète, zone de conflit, terrorisme

1. Introduction 2. Challenges in Data Gathering At a time when turmoil, warfare and mass migration afflict The challenges in gathering open-source data on a many parts of the world, a growing body of academic subgroup of a profession that, by default, is largely literature has established both the importance and the invisible are manifold. Prime among them is the nature of vulnerability of translators and interpreters (T/Is) in the settings and incidents, which for obvious reasons are conflict and post-conflict situations. In a humanitarian not conducive to transparency. These include war zones in response to the plight of these linguists, the nonprofit Red which civilian T/Is are targeted by insurgents due to their T was founded in 2010 with the mission of protecting T/Is collaboration with foreign militaries, foreign in high-risk settings. These settings include war zones, correspondents and other foreign entities; the terrorism detention centers, sites of political unrest, and terrorism- arena; nation states with restricted freedom of expression related venues, as well as countries in which translators of that unjustly arrest and prosecute T/Is; and instances where books, news items and other textual material deemed literary translators are the victims of aggravated assault or controversial are persecuted. Red T’s stated vision is a homicide. Another difficulty arises from casualty statistics world in which T/Is can work free from fear of persecution, released by governments that subsume the T/I category prosecution, imprisonment, abduction, torture and under the catch-all heading of locally employed civilians, assassination. To accomplish this, the nonprofit engages in as well as governments and private defense contractors that a variety of policy-focused and educational initiatives are tightlipped when approached for T/I figures. designed to raise awareness across the world among Additionally, names often pose a problem, whether because governments, intergovernmental organizations and the of misspellings, inconsistencies in transliteration, naming 1 public at large. While many of the advocacy efforts have conventions, name variants, or the popularity of certain borne fruit, they were at times hampered by a lack of data. names–all of which create the likelihood of confusion–not Seeking to address this dearth of facts and figures, Red T to mention the failure to name T/Is at all.2 started gathering information on T/I incidents for the first database on this topic.

1 Please see https://www.red-t.org 2 Frequently, T/Is are not considered sufficiently important to warrant mention; in other instances, their anonymity is preserved 95 to protect their identity. 3. Red T Pedagogical Module 3.1 Collaboration With Columbia University 4. Conclusion The Institute for Comparative Literature and Society at Columbia University in New York City conducts the Red T believes that effective linguist-friendly policies and Global Language Justice Initiative (GLJ),3 a seminar enhanced legal mechanisms must be undergirded by sponsored by the Andrew T. Mellon Foundation. As its robust data. Thus, to supplement contributions from name implies, the GLJ explores issues arising from the academia, Red T is urging governments to respond to our interrelationship of language and justice. Within the requests for casualty figures to the greatest extent framework of this initiative, GLJ launched a strategic possible.5 partnership with Red T. One of the results was a week-long In the spirit of “Protect Translators | Protect Interpreters | pedagogical module to be incorporated into the syllabus of Protect the World,” we hope that our call for data will be a related graduate-level course. The module was drafted by answered by governments across the globe and facilitated Alexandra Méndez, a GLJ Fellow, with the assistance of by intergovernmental bodies such as UNESCO. Red T. It introduces students to the Red T cause and different types of T/I rights violations. The students’ assignment is to contribute to the Red T database by: 5. Bibliographical References digitally scouring multiple media outlets of a selected Méndez, A. (2019). Pedagogical module: Database for the country, region or conflict zone; tracking one or two protection of translators and interpreters worldwide. incidents of T/I persecution, prosecution, imprisonment, Unpublished. abduction, torture or assassination; and providing a visual or narrative analysis of the identified content. As stated in the syllabus, the module’s purpose is “for students to learn about linguists’ rights, data gathering and analysis in the digital sphere, as well as contribute actively to a project of advocacy for the protection of translators and interpreters in crisis settings” (Méndez, 2019). While the specific learning objectives vary with a given course’s academic focus, students uniformly gain valuable insights into the humanitarian arena. The pilot run of the module took place during the 2019 spring semester in the context of a graduate course entitled “Global Language Justice in the Digital Sphere.” Professor Isabelle Zaugg supervised the module, assigned various relevant readings and hosted Red T CEO Maya Hess, who gave a presentation on the topic that was followed by a Q&A session. Several weeks later, students handed in their contributions to the database. This preliminary run yielded valuable data but also revealed that more structure was needed to guide students’ research in an unfamiliar field. In response, Red T drafted a detailed template that will be deployed as an integral part of the module in a second run. With those results in hand and any necessary adjustments made, the module will be made available to universities worldwide, with an initial targeting of institutions with translation and interpretation programs.4 The above methodology is beneficial for several reasons: For one, it permits the capture of T/I incidents reported in non-English languages for a more globally inclusive database. Having such comprehensive data will allow for a deeper perspective on the issue, which, in turn, will inform Red T’s policy efforts and media outreach. Second, T/I students will become sensitized to the fate of their colleagues at risk, while students from other fields of study will not only learn about an area of rising humanitarian concern but acquire an understanding of the critical importance of the T/I role in high-risk settings.

3 See https://languagejustice.wordpress.com 5 In the case of combat linguists, this request also extends to 4 Universities and other parties interested in participating in the defense contractors and insurers. Red T T/I Incident Database project should contact mhess@red- t.org 96